By Marshall Swanson

Sheila (not her real name) arrived at USC several years ago as a full-scholarship Honors College student.

After earning a bachelor's degree in Spanish with a minor in biology last year, she considered a career as an educator and weighed an offer to become a high school science teacher with Teach for America, the federal program that enlists new college graduates to teach in inner-city schools.

But none of it would have happened—the degree or the job opportunities—had it not been for USC's Counseling and Human Development Center.

The reason? Bulimia nervosa, an eating disorder Sheila brought with her to college from home even after several years of treatment. With help from the counseling center, however, she moved into recovery and by her senior year had begun leading an eating disorder support group at the center.

“I don't think I could have gotten through school without the counseling center,” Sheila said. “It gave me stability and something to turn to when I needed help. It was an anchor.”

Thousands of USC graduates could tell similar stories about how Carolina's counseling center helped them deal with everything from anxiety to suicidal impulses.

“The college years are ones of massive transition from a state of dependence to independence and the transition often can be difficult,” said counseling center director Russell Haber. “There are any number of basic life transitions that affect students, and there are many personal and relational things they have to learn.”

More than half of the students treated at the center have said emotional problems affect their academics, potentially jeopardizing their efforts to graduate, he said. Moreover, the late teens and early 20s are a time when severe mental health problems become evident, or when life throws unexpected curve balls such as parents separating, losing employment, or becoming ill.

In recent years, many students with serious emotional problems have been able to attend college because their conditions were identified and treated early on and university counseling centers were there to stand in the gap. Apart from its role as a clinic, USC's counseling center also is a safety net for students with developmental problems and a campus resource where students can learn coping skills, Haber said.

Of the roughly 1,500 students the center serves each year on an individual basis, about 75 percent are dealing with developmental issues such as relationship problems or personal problems such as money, time, and alcohol mismanagement. The remainder are working on more persistent problems (depression, anxiety, or thought disorders).

“Of the 1,500 students who require clinical services a third of them are in danger of dropping out of school, so I think the center really is involved in the academic mission of the University,” Haber said.

Another 7,000 students are served by the center through numerous group-counseling opportunities and in outreach seminars on topics such as stress management, presentations at student orientation, and spring break advisories.

The center immerses itself in the life of the campus and the academic mission of Carolina through its outreach to classrooms, residence halls, and academic departments. And it maintains cooperative liaisons with more than 10 USC operational areas such as the University chaplain association, housing, and Disabled Student Services.

The counseling center also works with the Office of Retention and Planning by helping students who are chronically absent from their classes. “Students who stop going to class are providing an indication they're having difficulties meeting their responsibilities so we refer them to a class absence reflection group,” Haber said.

With the Office of Student Judicial Programs, the center counsels students who have inappropriately or unlawfully used alcohol. “Instead of just expelling or suspending them, we've been working with a harm-reduction approach rather than abstinence because we've found that students relate much better to motivation versus prohibition,” Haber said.

Another initiative with Student Judicial Programs helps students who have exhibited suicidal behavior by referring them to the counseling center for an assessment. The assessment is similar to one used in Big 10 schools, which reduced suicides among its member institutions by one half.

Students troubled by drugs, violence-related issues, a death in the family, a bad break-up, or concerns such as dealing with their sexuality also are referred to the center.

When necessary, the center regularly works with the Columbia medical community, referring students to treatment facilities such as Richland Springs, a private psychiatric hospital, or to state or county treatment programs where around-the-clock service is available.

Scott Lewis, director of Student Judicial Programs, is, with Haber, a member of the University's Behavioral Intervention Team that deals with aberrant student behavior. Lewis' departmental collaborative relationship with the counseling center is a model for other schools.

“We're one of the institutions that is lucky to have the level of service we can provide to students that has their best interests at heart,” he said. “We're able to get students into the counseling center quickly and provide services that we know have been beneficial for them because of our low recidivism rate and positive feedback from students.”

That's at least partly because “the students really do get good care here that in some ways is better than what they would receive anywhere else,” said Peter Swanson, the center's full-time psychiatrist. He is part of a staff of some 20 people that includes a nurse practitioner, seven psychologists, two social workers, a family therapist/alcohol and drug counselor, and trainees such as four psychology interns, four family counselor interns, and four social work interns.

Student activities fees fund 13 pre-paid hours of services for each student annually, which helps overcome the initial reluctance students might have to seek help. After the 13 hours, client fees are about one-third of comparable services in the private sector.

“Money doesn't enter quite so heavily into the kinds of services we provide in outreach and other areas that allow us to do more than counseling,” Swanson said. “The professionals here are an idealistic group who are interested in helping the student population. I think what the students get here is really a superior service.”